Me, Myself, and Her

Chapter Fifty-One

Chapter Fifty-One: Breathe

As Eddie described what had happened, Annie had two people watching her like hawks.

Max was beside her, hands still together, and would glance over every now and then. She would squeeze her hand every now and then, too, as a reminder than Annie wasn't alone and that Max was right there for her. Annie would squeeze back.

Steve was right behind Annie, his hand on her shoulder. He was also still on guard, not entirely sure what Eddie might do. But he knew Annie wasn't doing too hot listening to how Chrissy was killed. Hearing it from Eddie's perspective was horrifying to say the least.

Robin and Dustin knew that Annie knew Chrissy, they just didn't know how much the teen meant to Annie. How she was a guiding hand, helping her out in high school and in cheer. How she figured out Max and Annie were dating, and didn't think they were freaks.

One of the only normal people in Annie's life. And she had to sit there and listen to Eddie recount how her limbs audibly snapped into pieces, how her jaw broke, and how her eyes were sucked into the back of her head.

The images that came into Annie's mind were awful, and what made it worse is how this definitely sounded like an Upside Down problem.

"I... I didn't know what to do, so I..." Eddie paused for a long time, as if coming to terms with what he had done. "I ran away. I left her there." He almost sounded disappointed in himself.

Annie closed her eyes, willing the tears to stay away. She would not cry, not here.

After a second, Eddie scoffed. "You all think I'm crazy, right?" he asked.

"No," Dustin breathed. "We don't think you're crazy-"

"Look, don't bullshit me, man! I know how this sounds," Eddie cried.

"We're not bullshitting you," Max said.

"We believe you," added Robin.

"If we didn't, we'd be laughing our asses off at your story but we're not because we know your story is legit," Annie said.

Eddie scoffed quietly. "Look," Dustin started, "what I'm about to tell you might be a little... difficult to take."

Eddie nodded a bit. "Okay," he said, his voice breaking.

"You know how people say Hawkins is... cursed?" Dustin asked. "They're not way off." Eddie leaned closer, listening to every word Dustin was saying. "There's another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes, it bleeds into ours."

"Like... ghosts and shit?" Eddie asked.

"There are some things worse than ghosts," Max said.

"Way worse," Annie added on. "Monsters."

Flashes of the Mind Flayer and the Demo-dogs went through Annie's mind. She thought of Billy, Holly, and Meghan, and how they were when they were under the control of the Mind Flayer. Things she'd consider so much worse than a ghoul in white.

Dustin went on. "These monsters from this other world, we thought they were gone. But they've come back before. That's why we needed to find you."

"If they're back again, we need to know," Max explained.

"That night. Did you see anything?" Robin asked.

"Dark particles, maybe?" Annie offered.

Eddie was shaking his head. "It would almost look like dust- swirling dust," Dustin explained.

"No, man, there was nothing you could see or uh, touch," Eddie said. Steve turned his head suddenly, and Annie looked back at him. It seemed as if he had a thought, hopefully something that had to do with this conversation.